Sports
Three Ohio Football Coaches To Vanderbilt, Per Player Tweets
By: Nick Komjati , Seth Austin
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Vanderbilt University has hired Ohio assistant coaches Gerry Gdowski, Keven Lightner, and director of football operations Jason Grooms on Friday, according to the Twitter accounts of various former Ohio football players.
Neither Vanderbilt nor Ohio has confirmed the hiring, but three former Ohio players including Tyler Tettleton, Beau Blankenship and Boo Jackson have posted congratulatory tweets naming all three coaches.
S/o to the three best coaches and men I know! Best of luck to @GerryGdowski @CoachLightner @OhioBobcatOps at Vandy!
— Tyler Tettleton (@Tyler_Tettleton) January 17, 2014
So happy for these coaches @GerryGdowski @CoachLightner @OhioBobcatOps Ohio will miss you! #vandy
— Beau Blankenship (@BeauBlank) January 17, 2014
Congratulations @GerryGdowski @CoachLightner @OhioBobcatOps Ohio will miss you! #vandy.
— Boo Jackson (@akshun_jakshun8) January 17, 2014
Vanderbilt recently hired former Bobcat assistant Derek Mason as its new head coach after the departure of former Vanderbilt Commodore head coach James Franklin to Penn State University. Mason reportedly has invited the Ohio trio join his staff and to continue success in Nashville.
The exit of the three Ohio assistants would be the largest change in staff since head coach Frank Solich arrived in Athens and all three have been instrumental in the growth of the Ohio program throughout their tenures.
Gdowskski served as Ohio's quarterback coach for nine years and was also an assistant offensive coordinator to Tim Albin. Gdowski is an alumnus of the University of Nebraska, where he played football and earned three varsity letters. He helped Tettleton to be Ohio's most prolific passer in program history, including helping the quarterback reach the 2,500-passing yards mark for two consecutive seasons.
Lightner came to Ohio in January of 2005 with Gdowski and has served as the ‘Cats’ offensive line coach ever since his arrival. He helped Ohio offensive lineman Eric Herman earn a draft selection by the New York Giants in the 2013 NFL Draft.
Grooms has served as Ohio's director of football operations for nine years and was promoted to the position of assistant athletic director of football operations prior to the 2011 season. FootballScoop named Grooms the director of football operations of the year just this season.
Vanderbilt has so far only confirmed the hiring of head coach Derek Mason.